An arch formed in the ragged rock ridge east of Monica Meadows is a rare landform in the Purcell Mountains of British Columbia.

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Alpine larch is a conifer with needles that change from green to golden yellow and drop off like leaves in autumn.

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The Kootenay Forest District has installed timber walkways on some of the boggy areas of the Monica Meadows trail in the Purcell Mountains of British Columbia.

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Alpine larch, changing colors in late September, extend up a forbidding rocky ridge from Monica Meadows in the Purcell Mountains of British Columbia.

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A tundra-like area is flush with water in the Starbird Pass area near Monica Meadows in the Purcell Mountains of British Columbia.

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Rain clouds lift and sunshine bathes alpine larch as they change colors in late September with a backdrop of glaciers at the Monica Meadows area in the Purcell Mountains of British Columbia.

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The landscape from top to bottom is changing into autumn colors during late September in the Purcell Mountains of British Columbia.

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Gnarled alpine larch were transforming from inconspicuous green to brilliant gold in late September at Monica Meadows contrasting with a backdrop of glaciers. The area is in the Purcell Mountains of British Columbia.

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A hole excavated by a bear - possibly hunting for ground squirrels - is found above one of the numerous lakes and tarns in Monica Meadows in the Purcell Mountains of British Columbia.

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The sign at the trailead for the route into Macbeth Ice Fields says volumes about the trail. It’s often steep and sketchy, but ultimately worthwhile. The hike is in the Purcell Mountains of British Columbia.

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Devil’s club, with its spiky thorns, deters off-trail hiking in the rain-forest section of the route into Macbeth Ice Fields in the Purcell Mountains of British Columbia.

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Creeks and waterfalls create an almost constant background roar for hikers heading up the Macbeth Ice Fields trail in the Purcell Mountains of British Columbia.

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A new aluminum footbridge over Birnum Creek is a signal that Kootenay Forest District is making a new commitment to maintaining the Macbeth Ice Fields trail into the Purcell Mountains of British Columbia. Note the old, often treacherous bridge on the shore at right.

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At least 18 man-made bridges, steps or stairways help hikers negotiate the steep route and numerous stream crossings into the Macbeth Ice Fields. The hike is in the Purcell Mountains of British Columbia.

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Birnam Falls drop into Graymalkin Lake at the end of the main trail into the Macbeth Ice Fields in the Purcell Mountains of British Columbia.

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Glaciers in the Macbeth Ice Fields melt in various ways, making it prudent to stay off the ice without ropes and glacier travel training.

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Tarns of icy water are tucked away and hidden throughout the rocky high country around the Macbeth Ice Fields in the Purcell Mountains of British Columbia.

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Cairns, maintained by hikers, mark the route toward a ride on a glacial moraine that extends from the main trail into the Macbeth Ice Fields. The area is in the Purcell Mountains of British Columbia.

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Glaciers, a cirque lake and plenty of country to explore great a hiker who scrambles to the high passes in the Macbeth Ice Fields. The area is in the Purcell Mountains of British Columbia.

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Fall colors were kicking into peak conditions in late September in the Purcell Mountains of British Columbia.

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Alpine larch were beginning to change into autumn colors around a lake near Jumbo Pass in the Purcell Mountains of British Columbia.

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From the porch or the fire ring at the Jumbo Pass Cabin, visitors have a colorful view in late September.

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Jumbo Pass Cabin in the Purcell Mountains of British Columbia is accessible only by hiking, skiing or helicopter. It’s available for rent.

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Bagging two hikes in one day up the Glacier Creek Road in the Purcell Mountains of British Columbia might leave you hiking down from Jumbo Pass as the sun sets behind the area’s glacier-studded peaks.